But what IS a lie?

"And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God." 2 Nephi 28:8

But this talk of whether even white lies are acceptable: Of how much value is it if we aren't meaning the same thing when one of us says "lie" and the other hears it? I here term a lie as any deception, which is any act or failure to act whose motive is for another to draw a conclusion that does not create an accurate map of reality. A lie is not, however, a false statement which you honestly do not intend to be taken as fact. When Hemingway wrote novels he was not lying,because it was not a deception. 

If your wife asks "Does this make me look fat?" and you respond "What do you think?" with such a tone that your intention is for her to conclude that she looks so not-fat as to make the question pointless, when you do in fact think that the dress makes her look fat, then it is a lie. 

Indeed, those that dissect words and say "But technically I said nothing untrue" may be more untrustworthy than those that acknowledge the lie. If you acknowledge it, it should cause some mental distress, which should make you reluctant to do so. But if you do not, then you can potentially escape this consequence and be more inclined to speak what is technically the truth whenever it is to your advantage. If you use such weasel words as "technically" to defend yourself to others, then please be honest about what you are doing. And if you use them to defend yourself to yourself, then isn't it obvious that some part of you doesn't believe it?